Chapter 14 - The Children Rosalind Never Had
Rosalind had wanted children.
Garrett always said:
“Soon.”
Then years passed.
Rosalind blamed herself.
At thirty-four, they tried seriously.
At thirty-five, fertility evaluations showed irregular ovulation.
Garrett held her while she cried.
At thirty-six, he suggested stopping treatments.
“They’re destroying you.”
At thirty-seven, Rosalind accepted that parenthood might not happen.
Now Penelope claimed Garrett had interfered.
Rosalind stared through the jail glass.
“How?”
“Not the sedatives.”
“What then?”
“Keller arranged other medication.”
Penelope admitted Garrett occasionally crushed hormonal medication into drinks during periods when Rosalind was undergoing fertility treatment.
Not enough to permanently sterilize her.
Enough, according to what Garrett had been told, to disrupt cycles and reduce the likelihood of conception.
Investigators later treated Penelope’s medical claim cautiously until records could confirm it.
Dr. Keller eventually admitted providing Garrett with prescription hormone-modulating drugs under false pretenses.
Whether every failed cycle was caused by them could never be scientifically established.
That uncertainty hurt almost as much as proof.
Rosalind sat in Grace’s office afterward.
“He took children I might have had.”
Grace answered carefully.
“He interfered with your medical autonomy. That is established if Keller’s account is corroborated.”
“But we can’t know whether I would have gotten pregnant.”
“No.”
Rosalind cried.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
For a future that could not be measured.
Tobias arrived and sat beside her.
She did not look at him.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Thank God.”
He waited.
Then Rosalind said:
“I used to envy Penelope.”
Tobias looked at her.
“When she got pregnant, I hated myself for being jealous.”
“You’re human.”
“I congratulated her. Bought the crib.”
“I remember.”
“All while Garrett…”
She could not finish.
Tobias took her hand.
This time she let him.
But their relationship was about to collapse too.
Federal investigators discovered Tobias had illegally accessed a Vale Maritime warehouse twelve years earlier.
He had broken in.
Taken photographs.
Copied files.
He had never reported it.
Rosalind stared at him.
“You committed burglary.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been telling me to trust your evidence.”
“The photographs led us to legitimate records later.”
“That is not the point.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Her anger exploded.
“Everyone in this family thinks the rules become optional when they have a reason!”
Tobias stood.
“So I should have done nothing?”
“You should have told someone!”
“Who?”
“The police!”
“I tried after Mom and Dad died.”
“You were twenty.”
“And they dismissed me.”
“So fifteen years of secret surveillance became your solution?”
Tobias’s face hardened.
“At least I did something.”
Rosalind recoiled.
He immediately regretted it.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You married Garrett while I kept warning you.”
There.
The wound.
Rosalind stepped closer.
“You let me marry him.”
“I told you—”
“You told me he was ambitious. That you didn’t trust Vales. That he asked too many questions.”
“I couldn’t prove more.”
“You could stand!”
Silence.
“You could have walked into my wedding and said, ‘Rosalind, my paralysis is a cover because I think this family murdered our parents.’”
Tobias looked away.
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because by then I didn’t trust you either.”
Rosalind’s face changed.
Tobias continued.
“Every warning went to Garrett.”
“He was my husband.”
“I know.”
“You decided I was compromised.”
“Yes.”
“And instead of risking the truth, you watched.”
Tobias’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Their bond broke open.
For years, both had believed Tobias’s deception protected Rosalind.
Now they faced the cost.
She had lost informed choice.
He had lost his sister’s trust.
Tobias left the safe house.
Not forever.
But enough.
That evening Mercer Shipworks’ board confronted Rosalind about Tobias’s unlawful activities.
If his evidence contaminated investigations, defense lawyers might attack everything.
The company’s insurer threatened to reserve coverage.
Two government contracts were placed under enhanced compliance review.
Rosalind’s return did not restore power.
It multiplied scrutiny.
Then Garrett’s attorneys filed a motion.
They claimed Rosalind and Tobias staged parts of the incident to frame Garrett in a corporate battle.
Absurd.
But Tobias’s fifteen-year deception gave them material.
The defense emphasized his false paralysis.
Secret recordings.
Trespass.
Hidden equipment.
One attorney told cameras:
“Mr. Tobias Mercer has constructed an elaborate false identity for over a decade. Any evidence originating from him must be viewed with extreme skepticism.”
Rosalind watched the broadcast.
May you like
They were turning the rescuer into the liar.
And because Tobias really had lied, the attack worked.
